At just 27, George Bacon has grown his agency, George Bacon Media Ltd (GBM), into an influential UK social media marketing company. The agency manages a network exceeding 15 million followers and generates 500 million monthly impressions. GBM specialises in creating advertising that naturally connects Gen Z and millennial audiences – taking on a key challenge for modern brands.

From School Problems to Social Media Success

George’s path into social media began in 2011 when he was just 14 years old. He created a Twitter page called “Secondary School Problems” to “vent his opinions” on the school system online and find out what others thought about it. The page quickly grew to 10,000 followers when, as George notes, “pages like these didn’t really exist.” 

This early success caught the attention of Social Chain, a prominent social media agency that recruited him at age 16. “They already had big pages as well, and effectively, they built out a network of pages, including mine and those of other people similar to me,” George explains.

After two years with Social Chain, George made the strategic decision to pursue his education while building his own social media presence.

Building GBM: Efficiency and Consistency

George reveals that GBM’s success in the creator economy stems from two fundamental principles: efficiency and consistency. 

“When I first started, it was just me. I was running 10+ pages on multiple platforms, posting several times a day while going to university and having a life,” he shares. “This can be applied to anything and everything…However, finding what works for you to do the job productively at a high level can be difficult. It comes with time.”

The dedication to consistency has driven results: “I never missed a day of posting, and that was on multiple pages.” This commitment particularly showed with ‘Great British Memes,’ which George describes as his ‘love child.’ He explains, “I put the most effort in ‘Great British Memes’ and the second-most in ‘That Girl Page’.”

The growth metrics tell the story: ‘“Great British Memes’ had like 50k followers on Instagram at the end of its first year, 500k at the end of the second, and 1.5 million at the end of the third.”

A New Approach to Brand Partnerships

GBM’s distinctive approach to brand collaborations has attracted major clients (names like Marks & Spencer, Uber and Bumble). Their process balances creative freedom with strategic alignment to client objectives. 

“As you can imagine, it varies from campaign to campaign,” George explains. “For general [campaigns], we will receive a brief from the client, then the wider team will go through it and come up with a proposal.”

The agency has established an efficient process for campaign development that maintains both speed and creative quality. “Once the campaign has been signed off, we go back to [clients] with an idea for approval,” George details. “It might have to be amended, especially with these corporate clients; there’re many things you need to tick off, not just on our side in terms of guidelines, but theirs as well.”

GBM completes projects quickly while maintaining quality. “Our general rule of thumb is no longer than two weeks, which is quite good for a turnaround time,” George notes. “Most of the time they reach out to us, they also want to be reactive, which helps.”

The agency creates content that connects genuinely with its audience. “We know how to target 18 to 34-year-olds,” George explains. “I feel it sets us apart, especially from bigger agencies.

George notes that each brand partnership requires careful consideration of both brand requirements and audience expectations. “Brands like Bumble, for example, may have a key messaging,” he shares. “So in the creative process, we’ll have to fit it somehow… it’s about finding that agreeable middle ground that fits the brand’s and our tone of voice.”

By creating timely content, the agency generates strong audience engagement. “We like to be reactive. We get the best results from the reactive ones because they are still relevant,” George explains. “Our audience appreciates a brand they know is working with us and jumping on a funny idea like Valentine’s Day or April Fools. I don’t think we’ve ever executed a campaign on either of those where our audience has not loved the content.”

Meeting Platform Changes Head-On

As social media platforms introduce new features and algorithms every few months, GBM maintains its effectiveness through adaptation and strategic planning. While some view platform updates as obstacles, George sees opportunities for innovation. “Times change, and you’ve got to stick with it, or it’ll leave you behind,” he emphasises.

Emerging Social Media Trends for 2025

George identifies two significant trends for 2025: the increasing influence of micro-influencers and employee advocacy. 

“I think the rise of micro-influencers will become more important, especially in certain niches,” he predicts. “From a business point of view, in the event space, for example, many people value experiences and would happily go to their favorite artist’s gig. All the artists had to do was capture some content and put it on their TikToks or Instagram profiles.”

The Power of Employee-Created Content

The shift in brand-created content represents another key development he’s monitoring. “Companies will tap into their employees being ‘influencers’ and creating content in their tone of voice,” George explains. 

He mentions successful examples like Duolingo: “Duolingo has multiple accounts across different countries, producing localised content which fits within that region, targeting new and existing customers in a creative and funny way.”

Platform Uncertainties

Regarding platform-specific challenges like the potential TikTok ban in the U.S., George keeps a practical perspective. “As our audience is UK-based, we’re largely unaffected by this issue,” he explains. “However, this is a big threat from an industry perspective.”

His approach to new platforms remains proactive and measured. “When Threads came, I was away in Australia. I heard the news a few hours later and was like, ‘Right, let’s create accounts,'” George shares. While recognizing that not every new platform will succeed, he stresses the importance of preparation: “If something new does come up, we’ll be straight on the platform… you’ve got to stick with it.”

This adaptability extends to content strategy across different platforms. For organic growth, GBM focuses on understanding platform-specific trends and algorithms. “In terms of organic content, we’re always looking for next trends, the formulas that work well and hit the explore page to ensure the channels are growing,” George explains, adding that GBM monitors metrics like monthly reach and follower growth closely as the agency considers those stats “key.”

What’s Next for GBM?

For 2025, GBM continues to strengthen brand relationships. “In 2024, we worked on a wide range of campaigns, whereas now the plan for us is to continue to grow our relationships with our core customer base. George shares. “We can very much own the work. From our team’s point of view, that’s what we want to do. We want to say, ‘Look, this is our work, and we’ve helped make this happen.’”

The agency plans to “continue growing to fulfill our client needs and ensure we have the right team members to deliver outstanding results.” 

“I think success when I first started was just being able to work with a client that I was either a user of or a fan of,” George concludes. “I don’t think that success has ever changed. I still have my dream list of clients I’m slowly going through and would welcome any brands out there to reach out to me directly.”